Prisoner
by WibblyWobblyTimeyWimey13
Summary: Piper McLean. Daughter of the King and Queen and Princess of the kingdom of Katoptris. Hidden from the world, kept in a dark dungeon since the day she turned eight, due to a terrible prophecy. Not even knowing who she truly is. A prisoner. For now.
1. My Life's Going Great!

**Hey guys! So, this is my first story and I'm really excited. It will be updated once or twice a week.**

**Enjoy!**

**Disclaimer: Sadly, all names, phrases, etc. belong to Rick Riordan.**

* * *

These are the facts I know.

My name is Piper McLean.

I am sixteen years old.

I am locked away.

I do not know why.

The only things I know were told to me by an old man who was locked away down here with me until he died when I was eleven, and the server who brings down food to me.

His name is Jason. He tells me stories of the kingdom we live in, Katoptris, and what the world is like. He teaches me new words and gives me more food then he should. He is my only company.

I am a prisoner.

* * *

The floor is cold. It is etched with scratches and cracks. I only know this from feeling around and years of laying on the hard concrete floor. There are no windows. No light bulbs. The only light I can see is the glow of the servent's flashlights as they come down to feed me. And my own flashlight, sneaked to me by Jason so I can see when there is nobody around. I rarely turn it on to save its battery. There rarely is anyone around.

I do, in fact, remember light as a thing I saw during the few years I was not underground. When thinking of light, I simply think of an opposite of now. Of here. Of my life as I currently live it.

Jason says light is a great thing, and that there is a sun that gives off a substance that lets you see all things, and when it goes away, it is hard to see things. These facts I could not remember from my life above ground. That is my cell. The thing that is left when the sun goes away. My life.

I am hungry. To make the pain go away, I focus on a scratch on the wall in front of me. I lean against another wall for support. Whoever makes me food has this planned out. I am fed just enough to sustain me until the next time I am fed. Jason says I am fed once a day at three o' clock, but I can't see the difference, for I cannot tell time down here.

Just as I feel the hunger will overwhelm me, and I will pass out as I have done before, I hear footsteps. They clang against the floor in a pattern I recognize as Jason. We have a secret code. While walking down the long set of steps to my cell, he waits four seconds after taking three steps before taking another three steps. This is to tell me if I have to hide the few things Jason has given me so I don't get into trouble.

Jason has graciously given me a few things to teach me about life. A book of the rules of our kingdom. A dictionary of words. These things I can read, and the words I cannot, Jason reads for me when he sneaks down. A flashlight so I can look around. A spare set of clothes. A bar of soap. I hide these things under my blanket and I sleep with them the times I achieve sleep. Most of the time I lay with my eyes closed listening to the screams of the other prisoners. The ones who are tortured throughout most nights.

Soon Jason comes into view, holding two cups of water (One to wash yourself and one to drink, as Jason has explained.) , a large piece of bread, and three apples. Yuck. Yesterday it was peaches. I like peaches. Not apples. Still, it is good enough. Better than meat, which I refuse to eat after I learned it was killed animals.

"Food." Jason says as he approaches my cell. His flashlight beams brightly and hurts my eyes. He slides my food under the bars of my cell and sits on the ground. Jason sets his flashlight down so the light faces up. He watches me dig in messily, and I cannot help but feel self-conscious. I don't know why. I have known Jason for three years, since he was taken as a servant for the King and Queen and their many children. Jason normally volunteers to take food to the prisoners, and since I am kept away from the other prisoners in cells that are most likely kept open for the worst and darkest of prisoners, he usually comes down and sits for a while. If it wasn't him, it was Leo, Frank, Nico, or Percy.

"Any news?" I ask, probably looking great with my mouth stuffed with bread.

"Yes, actually. Apparently four girls are on trial today. They must have done something really bad, because if they are proven guilty, they'll be in the cells...for the people who've done unspeakable things. " Jason looks at his hands, which are tapping nervously against his thigh.

"You mean...down here. With me." I say. We both look at the cells next to and across from me.

"That's all I know. I even heard that they're so dangerous that they're sending down me and the four other guys down everyday. Probably me, Percy, Nico, Leo, and Frank. Of course, it is one per person, like how it normally is. You know, me coming down here to you. I guess so it'd be a fair fight if they got out."

"Yeah," I say. "Maybe."

There is a silence for a few moments. The only sound is of Jason and I breathing. I am the only one in this wing of the dungeons, completely separated from the rest of the castle,

Alone.

"So," Jason says "How have you been?"

"Perfect. My life's going great!" I say with fake enthusiasm. Luckily, I picked up sarcasm quickly in those all too short eight years I lived free. Of course, living in a small house with my father almost never being let outside isn't exactly "free".

I shudder. I still remember the day the tiny house was raided by soldiers and my father was killed. And I was taken here.

"Not funny, Pipes. I mean seriously, Do you need more food? Do you think you're healthy?" Jason looks concerned. He slides his hand underneath the bars and covers my hand with his own. I feel sparks shoot up my arm into the rest of my body. My cheeks grow red. I try to beat down this feeling rising in my stomach that makes me feel like I will puke or smile at the same time.

I think I like it.

"I'm fine, Jason. Really, Well, as much as I can be."

Then there is a loud ringing sound. The servant's dinnertime. Jason looks at me as to say sorry.

"I gotta go. Sorry Piper," He takes his flashlight in his hand and it flickers and seems to shock Jason. He yelps and drops the flashlight.

"Whoa. Easy there, Sparky. See you tomorrow."

"Yeah, see you then. Good luck, those girls might be arriving tonight."

"Alright. Bye."

"Bye."

And then he was gone, leaving in the familiar three steps-four-seconds pattern. I finish the second apple and stuff the other under my pillow for later. Then, I sit and dunk my bar of soap into the container of water I have not drunk from and start cleaning myself. Once I have gotten as clean as I can, I hide my soap once again under my blanket and wait for a servant to come and collect my empty tray. It is always a different one, because Jason is the only one ever volunteer to come down here, and every servant is only allowed to visit the dungeons once a day. I don't know why.

A man comes down, doesn't look at me, collects my tray from where I pushed it out of the cell, and goes back upstairs. I lay on my bed and fall asleep until I am awaken by footsteps clanging against the concrete steps.

* * *

**One chapter down! Next ones will be longer, this was just starting it off.**

**Thanks for reading! Stay tuned!**

**-Kat**


	2. Meet Your New Cellmates

**Disclaimer: *Sigh* All names, places, etc. belong to Rick Riordan. (Ya know, sadly.)**

* * *

The loud footsteps seem to shake the ground. Many of them, some in sync with others and some that sound like the person taking the steps is stumbling. I hear mumbles and proclaims of "Ouch!" and "Hands off!" and weirdly, one " Well, somebody woke up on the wrong side of the castle didn't they?".

I roll over to look at where the people would emerge from the the stairwell. My eyes are still groggy from sleep, so I rub them to see better. It doesn't really help. Soon I see a few figures, some tall, some short, and one limping. I sit up in my bed, carefully making sure none of my things slips out from under the blanket. I wiggle out from under it and walk shakily towards the cell bars.

I peer through them. My eyes, now clear, can put together some shapes and colors with the help of the guards' flashlights. I see a tall girl with black hair up to her shoulders and I could especially see her eyes. They were an electrifying blue and looked like they could zap you any moment with lightning. This girl has a rude expression on her face, like she won't go down without a fight. She is struggling against a guard's firm grasp as he ushers her into the cell next to my right.

Another girl has golden princess curls in ringlets down her back and stormy grey eyes that shine with pride. She seems to have gotten out of the guard's hold, because she was now fighting him expertly. She probably could have beat him, too, by the looks of how she is fighting now. But she is most likely tired after her day of trials, and she is easily beat once another guard joins the fight. She is pushed into a cell on the left side of me.

While this is happening, another girl with long, curly brown hair and brown eyes is shoved into a cell across from the one with the princess curls and the other with golden-brown hair and milky white skin shoved into a cell across from me. The guards slam the doors and lock the cells before retreating back up the stairs, taking all the light in the room with them.

There is a moment of silence.

"Well, that's just peachy." says the girl with black hair and blue eyes. She turns to me. "Hello. I'm Thalia. What are you in here for?"

I look at her. I have not spoken to anyone but Jason for years. And Leonard. And early on, I had a few fights with some guards. But since Jason has been here, he has been the only one.

"I-I don't know." I respond shakily. I walk over to my bed and pull out my flashlight. I flick it on. I sit down on my bed and look around at all the girls here.

"What's your name?" asks the girl with golden curls.

"Piper."

"I'm Annabeth. The girl you were just speaking to, as you know, is Thalia, and that's Hazel and that's Calypso." As she said this she points to the other girls naming the one with brown hair as Hazel and the one with golden-brown hair as Calypso.

"If you don't mind me asking, how long have you been here? says Annabeth.

"Well, I was taken down here on my eighth birthday, and I turned sixteen...well, what month is it?"

"August." responds Hazel.

"Well, my birthday's in April. April 19th." **(AN: Piper's birthday hasn't been stated in the books so I just made it up**.) So, just over eight years I guess."

"Wow. That's a long time. So, that must mean...they feed you right?" Calypso asks.

"Yes. Everyday at three."

All the girls look relieved when I say that. There is another silence. This time, I am the one to break it.

"So why are you here?"

"Well apparently we did something because we are here. We had a trial, but all they did was accuse us of... Annabeth, what was it?" Thalia asks.

"Stealing and murder." Annabeth helps.

"Right, that. Well, we didn't do it so we are kind of here for no reason."

"Yeah, well join the club." I say.

"It's dark." Hazel says. We all look at her. "What? It is. Piper, when do we get our flashlights?"

"You'll have to make friends with a servant first. Good luck, too. There's only five good ones. You'll meet them later today." I say, flicking my flashlight off.

"Yay."

"Well," I say, "You've met me. Now your turn. Introduce yourselves."

"Okay then," Calypso says, "Well, we're all sixteen and have grown up in Olympus."

"And Thalia's dad is the king of all of Olympus." Annabeth joins in. "So he's basically the supreme lord of Katoptris, Riptide, Ivlivs, Mythomagic, Ogygia, Daedalus, Buford, Firewood, Arion, and Fleece. But she doesn't like to say."

"So, you're a princess?" I ask.

"We all are." Thalia says." Me of Fleece, Calypso of Ogygia, Annabeth of Daedalus, and Hazel of Arion."

"Wow. That's... interesting."

"Yeah, but none of us really like to say so. It's really because of how we've grown up being treated all locked up and under so many rules. I mean, it's not as bad as everyone makes it out be, but it's certainly not fun." Hazel states.

"I wouldn't know." I say.

Just then, I hear a familiar pattern in footsteps echoing down to where are cells are. It is almost creepy, hearing a few people all walking in the same pattern. Jason taught our code to all the good servants, like the ones who actually have souls. Still, I must have slept for longer than I thought if it's already time to be fed.

"Is that how guards walk around here?" Calypso asks, looking confused.

"No," I say. "That's Jason, Nico, Frank, Percy, and Leo. The good ones. We have a secret code so I know it's them coming in case I have to hide anything I have out that Jason has given to me and I don't have time. The pattern is three steps, and then they wait four seconds, and then another three steps and another four seconds."

"Oh. Okay, that makes sense I guess." Calypso reasons.

Soon Jason comes into view, followed by Percy, Nico, Leo, and Frank, each holding a tray with two cups of water, a large piece of bread, and three pears. Almost the same as yesterday, except now pears instead of apples (thank the gods).

Leo, brings food to Calypso, Frank to Hazel, Percy to Annabeth, and Nico to Thalia. And Jason to me. They each slide the trays of food under the bars for us to eat. All the girls dig in except me and Annabeth. I see Annabeth give me a look that asks, _Is it safe?_

I shoot Annabeth a look back with a nod that hopefully says, _Yeah, it's fine. _She starts eating, but warily. I sart eating too, but I look up at the boys when I hear someone clear their throat. I think it was Percy.

"Uh," Percy says, looking at his feet. " One of the cups of water is to drink, the other is to wash yourself."

"Do we get soap?" Thalia asks.

"No, but you can have some anyway. Just keep it hidden." Nico says and pulls a bar of soap out of his pocket. All the boys do, except Jason, and give them to the girl they gave food to.

"I keep mine under my pillow." I say to the girls. They nod and put theirs under their own pillows.

"Well, my name's Leo." Leo says, breaking the ice.

"I'm Percy."

"I'm Frank."

"I'm Nico."

"I'm Jason."

"I'm Leo."

Everybody looks at Leo.

"What?" he asks.

"You said your name twice, man." Jason says.

"Oh. Oops." Leo shrugs.

"Alright...Well, I'm Calypso." Calypso says.

"And I'm Thalia."

"I'm Hazel."

"And I'm Calypso." Calypso says once again, and smirks at Leo. "Oops, did I say that twice? Silly me." Then she shrugs and smiles at Leo.

"Ha-ha. So funny." Leo states dryly, then shoots a glare at his friends, who all look like they are holding back laughs.

"So," Percy says. " How come you pretty, innocent-looking girls are locked away in the darkest dungeons separated from the others because these are for the darkest and most dangerous criminals in the entire kingdom?"

"Wow, Perce. Real subtle." Frank says.

"Shut it, Zhang."

"Make me, Jackson."

"Oh Gods, whats this about?" Nico asks, looking bored and rolling his eyes.

"Last night, Percy over here got mad at me for taking one cookie at the dessert table once the king and queen were finished with their dessert. You know how they usually let us eat the remaining food when they don't want anymore. So anyway, we were cleaning and i just took it and he blew up at me." Frank explained.

"It had blue sprinkles! It was the only one with blue on it! You know how much I like blue foods." Percy argued.

"Yeah, but you had already had a brownie, and I didn't have anything. So I mean, it was perfectly acceptable to take it when-".

"Anyway, Percy, to answer your question, we don't know why were are here. No idea. At all." Annabeth tells him.

"But...didn't you guys have a trial?" Leo asks.

"Yeah, but all that happened was they blamed us for stealing and killing and supported it with evidence that wasn't true. We never did any of those things." Thalia helps explain.

"Yeah, I mean, we're princesses, and nobody bats an eye to us being thrown in a dugeon." Calypso joins in.

"Wait a minute. Princesses?" Nico asks, looking at the girls with wide eyes.

"Yeah, I know, right?" I say, realizing I have barely spoken since the boys have come down, not even to thank Jason for bringing me food. "Annabeth of Daedalus, Calypso of Ogygia, Hazel of Arion, and Thalia of Fleece. But Thalia's dad is Zeus, so she's really princess of all of Olympus, let alone Fleece."

"Wow." Jason says, finally breaking the few seconds of silence the boys were in awe.

"That's so cool." Leo grins. 'So, have you guys known each other since birth? Like were you in some secret princess pack as soon as you were born?"

"No, actually. I met Annabeth when we were seven, and we met Calypso and Hazel later, when we were nine. We've been friends ever since. We were actually in the middle of a sleepover when we were arrested. I never got to finish braiding your hair, Annie." Thalia said the last sentence with a frown that was obviously fake.

"Don't call me Annie, Thals."Annabeth says, shooting her a glare.

"Don't call me Thals, Annie."Thalia says, matching her glare.

It looks almost for a second that they are actually mad at each other, but Calypso and Hazel don't seem bothered by their dispute, so I think they're really just joking. Sure enough, after glaring at each other for a good amount of time, they both start laughing at the same time.

"Hey, Pipes, you don't know why you're here, right?" Percy asks, looking at me. I shake my head.

"No, but I've been here a lot longer, and I'm not a princess." I say. Percy, Jason, Nico, Leo, and Frank all exchange looks.

"Well..." Nico starts.

"What?" I ask, eyeing them suspiciously. What are they thinking about?

"We kind of... found something out yesterday night." Jason starts.

"And that was?" I say. At least, I think I do. My head starts pounding. I place down the pear I have been eating slowly since it was given to me. I shift in my postion in my bed.

"We overheard the king and queen arguing yesterday, and it didn't dawn on us what it was about until the ending of the conversation. This is what happened."

* * *

_Flashback:_

_ "No, Ares, I will not accept it. You simply cannot do it." Aphrodite said, her eyes, beatiful as ever, narrowing in anger._

_ "You don't understand, my dear. It's a danger." Ares argued, closing his eyes and sitting back in his throne._

_ "It was also a danger eight years ago but you didn't do it then." Aphrodite continued, crossing her arms and glaring at her husband._

_ "Zeus forbid it. I would've if he didn't but it had to be done."_

_ "You were just shaken up over the war. You acted too hastily."_

_ "You must understand. These girls must join her down there because they are dangerous."_

_ "My daughter was locked down there when she was eight. Eight! And what harm could an eight year old little girl do?" _

_ Ares seemed to think about his answer. And then he responded._

_ "She was the main one the propchecy spoke of. These other girls are just helpers."_

_ "And what of the boys?"_

_ "They are closely under my watch."_

_ "I am still upset with your decsion. Piper was put down there eight years ago. My eldest daughter. All alone. Locked up. Her memory erased. Even when she wasn't down there, before she was locked up she was hidden from the public. Never treated like her sisters. It was unfair. It still is."_

_ "I am truly sorry my dear, but you have heard the prophecy. She is dangerous. It was something we had to do."_

_ "You are lucky I'm tired Ares. This is not the end of the converstation."_

_ "It is for the night. Good night." Ares watched Aphrodite stalk away to their chambers to go to sleep._

_ Little did either of them know, five servants were in the next room over, and had heard every word._

* * *

"And that's what we heard. Piper... you're a princess." Jason says.

Everything is spinning. My head hurts. Princess. The word echos over and over in my head. Princess Piper. Locked away. Memory erased.

And then everything goes black.

* * *

**Hey guys! So I never said some things and I want to make them clear.**

**First: Thalia and Jason aren't siblings.**

**Second: They are all the same age (sixteen). Obviously by this I don't mean exactly the same age, just that they all were born in the same year.**

**Third: For this story, I have decided Nico will not be gay. I'm sorry, if this bothers you, go find another story. I do realize Thalia could be with Luke instead of Nico like I have planned, but I don't like her and Luke together. I do like her with Nico.**

**Fourth: This takes place right where The Lost Hero starts, except the ages are a bit different.**

**I hope you accept that this is how the story will be. Hope you liked it!**

**-Kat**


	3. Developing A Flashlight Fetish

**Hiiii! Before anyone gets mad, I want to say I was on vacation. That's why there was a late update. I would've warned you, but I thought I would have w-fi and would be able to update. Apparently, I wasn't near any Wi-Fi. My hotel's wasn't working. I did write, so I could update when I got back, which was two days ago. On with the story.**

**Disclaimer: All names, places, etc. you recognize belongs to Rick Riordan. I think he should take better care of his things.**

* * *

_"And that's what we heard. Piper... you're a princess." Jason says._

_Everything is spinning. My head hurts. Princess. The word echoes over and over in my head. Princess Piper. Locked away. Memory erased. _

_And then everything goes black._

* * *

I hear voices before I see them. Namely, Jason's.

"When do you think she'll wake up?" I hear Jason, worry etched into every syllable he says.

"I don't know. Soon, probably." Nico, notably less worried, but worried all the same.

Then my eyes open, and instead of seeing people crowded around me, I see the floor. I must have fallen forwards. Nobody is near me, and I don't know why I didn't expect to be separated by the cell bars. Thank the gods I'm sitting, leaning against my bed. Instead of my nose being squashed, I'm thankful to see that the only thing injured is a pear that seems to have rolled away when I fell against my food tray.

I lift my head up, and feel eyes on me. I move into a more comfortable position a move my tray off my lap. Instead of asking what happened, since I already know I fainted, I ask a different question.

"How long was I out for?" I groan and rub my head. I have a headache. The words still echo in my head. _Princess. Memory erased. Eight years._

"About twenty minutes. Frank, Leo, and Percy went to finish giving food to the other prisoners." Calypso says, looking relieved I was awake. Even though I barely know these girls, I already feel safe and comfortable with them.

"Okay. And just to make sure I wasn't dreaming..." I look at Jason and Nico hopefully.

"Piper. You're Princess of Katoptris." Jason clears up. I expect another rush of nausea but only feel my heart start beating faster. Why?

There's silence. It seems to happen too much down here, even though now I have people to talk to.

"Well, on the bright side, you can join our secret princess club now." Thalia says. I have to grin.

"Is it always dramatic?" I ask.

"Oh, it's not princess club without the drama." Thalia grins back at me.

"Do I have to perform a sacrifice or ritual?"

"Yes. You must give up your sad life for a one at the beautiful palace."

"Darn. I was just getting used to my cell." I joke. The other girls giggle, like they- we - as princesses have a secret inside joke.

"It has to be done."

"Can I keep my soap?" We all laugh. I can feel the tension, if not thoroughly broken, was at least dented to the point in which it can be beaten to nothing. Jason smiled, a sad smile that didn't pity me as much as show something hidden behind it. Care? Jealousy?

"You better, or I'm not serving you." Nico said. We all smiled, and I discovered this feeling that's telling me that how we're facing these newfound facts wasn't right. As hard as this will be for me to understand, we can't joke. At least, not like this where we aren't acknowledging what's really going on. It's not right.

I let out a kind of breathy sigh. I took a few deep breaths very quickly. And then I broke down. I let out sobs. Not tears, because crying is for happiness and sadness. This was a mixture of confusion and anger. Being upset was not the way to go about something like this.

"Piper? You okay?" Jason asks, turning and taking a step towards me at the same time. He seems to have forgotten I'm behind bars. Not only physical ones, too, because I have felt another feeling arising in my stomach. A feeling I have always felt, a feeling of not belonging. It disappeared when the girls arrived only maybe half an hour ago, yet it feels like a lifetime since I have felt like an outsider. It felt so right without it, I forgot it was gone, but now it's back and the cold as returned in the pit of my gut.

Sobs come as I choke on some water I try to swallow to calm my nerves. I pick up my flashlight, which has somehow fallen on the floor next to me, and clicked it on. And then off. I never move it from the position it was in, causing flickers of light to shine against the wall in the same spots. Why is this happening? It feels like someone else is controlling me. My sobs come to a stop. My fingers, however, continue. I fight against the strange urge to flick the light, but the wall behind my bed still lights up and goes dark against my will.

I hear Percy, Frank, and Leo bound down the steps as fast as they can while still following the pattern. I hear Jason say my name. And then, when my vision is going blurry and my head is hurting from focusing on the light and I think everything is about to go black, I hear a voice.

"It's okay. She's fine." The voice is calm. I don't know who it is, and I don't draw my head away from the wall to see who said it.

"Who is?" Hazel asks, looking scared and confused. Only then did I realize it was me speaking. Except, it wasn't really me. It was something else.

"Piper. Her nerves have let a guard down for me, so I must speak quickly before she pushes me out." My lips move again, but a voice different from mine comes out.

"What do you mean? Who are you?" That was Annabeth, in a voice worried and questioning, and I can see from the corner of my vision her eyes calculating the situation.

"I am a trapped force. I am known as Queen of Olympus. I have come to send a message. I need three of you to come save me from my prison. The trio must consist of this girl and two boys. They must save me within the week, or I will die. I have something with me, something that will help you solve the prophecy." I speak again.

"Wait. Queen of Olympus? Hera?" Thalia asks, a bit of ice in her voice.

"Hello, my dear step-daughter. I always knew you would be thrown in prison." The voice- Hera - speaks again. Before Thalia can retort, Jason speaks up.

"Tell us where you are so we can save you. And what is Piper doing?" He asks, his voice full of worry.

"Oh, don't worry about her. She's strong. All she's doing is putting her head to a task while I take over. It keeps her mind intact."

"Really?" Annabeth asks. "How does that work? How did you take over her anyway?"

"Oh, well, when I first discovered the prophecy and its meaning, I installed this kind of message in her head using secret technology. This was always going to happen at this exact moment, since I programmed it."

"But how are you responding to our questions?"

"Well, the service has all words and my voice both programmed into it. My intentions, along with my thoughts, are installed and say these words through her since I put the program into her brain when she was five. Piper is currently conscious and okay, not in any pain. My son, Hephaestus invented this. You may know him as King of Buford. I still can't believe he named his slice of the country with his favorite _table_ in mind. It was an act of defiance, you know. I disapproved. Look at him now. His wife cheating, and his face! Have you seen it? It's like a-". She was interrupted by Nico.

"Excuse me, My Queen, but where do we find you?"

"You can find me at the house of wolves, across the country. Ask the wind to lead you." And all of a sudden there is a cold feeling, and I jerk backwards dropping the flashlight. I jump to my feet and gracefully fall back onto my bed. My legs are weaker than I thought. I give up and lay down on my bed.

"Piper? It's you now, right?" Calypso says, her voice small.

"Yes." I say, closing my eyes. I have a headache from trying to put together the pieces. Journey? Hera? It seems as if everything is just running at me now. All of a sudden I'm a princess that needs to help save the Queen of Olympus.

"Gods, I hate Hera. " Thalia states. I open my eyes to show I'm listening.

"What's she done?" Percy asks. I hear all the other girls take a sharp intake of breath. _Bad question, Perce._

"She's my step-mom. What hasn't she done?" Thalia says, looking annoyed. I sit up on my bed, suddenly interested.

"Poor Cinderella." Nico says.

"Shut up." Thalia tries to look mad, but she smiles at Nico anyway. He smiles back. They both blush.

_Cinderella._ I rack the word through my brain. I think it's a fairytale. I remember it, but I don't know where from. But my memory was wiped. I was probably told the story.

"Hate to interrupt your blushing-session, but we have to go start cooking." Leo says, smirking. I roll my eyes. Thalia and Nico break eye-contact and turn deeper shades of pink. I know the boys are holding back laughs.

"Bye boys." Hazel says, glancing at Frank before looking away. The rest of us say bye and they leave in the footstep rhythm. I'm wondering who says it first. It turns out to be Calypso.

"So, you and Nico, huh?" She says, grinning. Thalia shoots a glare at her before responding.

"What do you mean? Shouldn't we be talking about how much Hazel and Frank were looking at each other?" Thalia looks pointedly at Hazel. Hazel gasps. Calypso, Annabeth, and I turn our heads to her. She turns pink.

"No! Wait, he was looking at me?" She asked, her curiosity betraying her.

"Oh, yeah." Annabeth says. I want to join their girl-talk, but I barely know them, and it could make them uncomfortable. Besides, I don't have any experience with boys.

"Oh. Well." Hazel seems speechless. She looks at Annabeth.

"What about Percy? He certainly looked at you a bit." Hazel accused. Annabeth blushed and looked down. "And you can't use the 'He just likes me because I'm a blond princess' excuse. We can barely see your hair.

"So what? I barely know the guy." She seems nonchalant, but, she looks down at her hands all the same. "Now, the real thing to talk about here is Piper and Jason." They all look at me. My eyes widen.

"Me and Jason? Jason doesn't like me like that, and I-". I stop short, my mouth still open. What _did _I feel towards Jason? I don't know. I don't know enough about feelings to know. Annabeth smirks like she knows something I don't, and the other girls just smile. "Never mind. I'm going to bed."

The other girls nod in agreement and lay on their beds. I lay awake with my eyes closed and listen to the rhythm of their breathing. I watch as a maid comes down and takes the trays that have been pushed under the bars. She leaves and I finally relax. Even though I was sleeping about an hour ago, I feel as exhausted as ever. I try not to think about all the new things we learned today. I finally drift off to sleep, thinking of sleep and sleep alone.

* * *

**TADA! More within the week. This time for sure.**

**-Kat**


	4. The Torture of Girl Talk

**Disclaimer: I'm not Rick Riordan. Don't worry. I think I'd know.**

* * *

"Piper? Piper, wake up!" I hear a name. I groan. I couldn't have gotten more than an hour of sleep. I wonder why I've been so tired lately. Of course, it feels like days since the girls have appeared, but it's only been a few hours. Maybe that counts for my being tired.

"What? I'm up!" I mutter out. I sit up in bed and rub my eyes and throw my sheets off of me. I grab my flashlight and flick it on. Pointing it in front of me, I jump out of bed and stumble over to the bars. I peer through them, using the flashlight to scan the room all the girls are standing where I am, except Annabeth. She's closer to her bed, in a strange position. I squint, trying to understand this scene better when I realize she holding someone.

There is someone struggling against Annabeth's apparently tight grip, and I see a flash of red. I also see something silver laying on Annabeth's bed. Thalia, Hazel, and Calypso are now completely awake, and so am I. They all are staring at Annabeth, close to the bars. Annabeth seems like she's not struggling anymore, and apparently whoever she's holding has given up.

"Piper, this girl just walked in! She has keys to our cells and needles! I woke up before she tried to stick one in me! Is this normal?!" Annabeth is panicking. I see another flash of red and my mind makes sense of this. I let out a sigh.

"Thank gods. I was so scared." It sit down on my bed and close my eyes. I take a few deep breaths before opening them again and explaining. "You see, every week a maid's sent down here to give us this shot that keeps us from being… high maintenance. It stops us from sweating, which stops us from smelling bad, since we don't get showers, and it stops us from needing to brush our teeth or go to the bathroom so much and pimples or puberty or anything that could cause them to need to care of us."

Silence.

"So, can you let go of me now?" The girl Annabeth's holding asks. I recognize the voice.

"Rachel?" I ask getting up and going closer to Annabeth's cell.

"Hi, Piper. New friends?" Rachel smiles. At least I think so. Annabeth shoots me a look. I nod and Annabeth lets go of Rachel, still looking wary.

"Girls, this is Rachel. A good maid. Rachel, this is Annabeth, Thalia, Hazel, and Calypso." I gesture to the girls."

"There's good maids too? Piper, warn us next time." Calypso says, laughing slightly.

"Well," Rachel begins, straightening her clothes from the struggle. "I did the footsteps pattern thing Piper came up with."

"I didn't hear that. I'm sorry." Annabeth apologizes, settling down. She turns to me. "Any other maids we should know about? I don't want to do this again."

"Well there's Katie, Clarisse, Gwen, Drew, and Juniper. " I say.

"And Reyna." Rachel adds, giving me a pointed look while walking out of Annabeth's cell and towards the wall right next to the staircase. She pulls a string a few times and a light flickers on. My eyes open wide. I didn't know that was there. It's the brightest thing I've seen in years. I can't even look directly at it. Rachel walks back to Annabeth's cell and joins Annabeth on her bed, sitting down. I glare at her.

"Right. Reyna." I spit out.

"What's up with this Reyna girl?" Thalia asks, and Annabeth, Hazel, and Calypso all shoot her a look. I take a deep breath.

"Nothing. Reyna's great." I say though my teeth, smiling.

"Uh-huh. Reyna's fine, but Pipes doesn't like her because she likes Jason." Rachel says, obviously hungry for gossip. She smirks.

"Not true! I love Reyna, she's… she's… she's got great hair?" I state weakly.

"Admit it Piper, you're jealous." Calypso says. Great, she's turned on me too?

"Am not!"

"Tsk, tsk, tsk," Annabeth shakes her head like she was scolding me. "She's in denial."

"Like we didn't see you drooling over Percy!" I accuse. Rachel squeals.

"Percy? You like him? That's so cute!" She basically shrieks out. Annabeth takes a step away from her, blushing like crazy.

"No comment." Annabeth says, looking down. Her hair is hiding her face. Then she looks up. "Don't you have needles to stick in us?"

"Oh! Right! Those. Actually, they've recently added this weird brain thing to it so it can almost keep your brain active. Strange, right?" Rachel picks up the tray and takes a syringe off of it. Annabeth holds out her arm willingly, but not eagerly. She has a scowl on her face as the needle is inserted into her arm, and she isn't looking. Rachel comes to the rest of us, and it seems Thalia is the only one who can stand to look. The rest of us look away, and Hazel even shrieks.

Once Rachel is finished, she takes out napkins from a pocket in her apron and cleans off the syringes and our arms. She strides over to the toilet in the back of my cell and flushes it down. She stumbles around a bit while walking out, and then looks at us all for a few seconds. All the doors are open, and we're all in our cells.

"I just left the doors open, and you're not even going to walk out for a few seconds? Waste of using the light's power." The light has been flickering on and off since Rachel turned it on. I still can't look at the bulb.

Annabeth is the first one out. Then Thalia. They hug. Then Hazel and Calypso at the same time. I'm the only on still in the cell. They all look at me. I'm standing directly where the door would be if it was closed. I try to move, but I'm frozen.

"Piper? Come on. We're group hugging." Calypso says, gesturing to me with her hands to join them. I stay still. She sighs and grabs the arm that didn't have a needle in it. I stumble out and fall, suddenly weak. Annabeth helps her hoist me up, and I wobble around until I get my balance. I smile and let out a breath of relief. I join their hug and then Rachel.

We stand there for a few seconds, and then we back away. Rachel frowns.

"I'm sorry guys. I need to go. I wish I could let you out, but there's guards up there at the top of the stairs. Far enough so they can't hear, but if something happens when you're sleeping…sorry." Rachel looks distraught. I hug her too, thankful for her letting me out of my cell for the first time in eight years.

"That's okay. Why haven't you ever let me out before?" I ask, not trying to make her feel guilty but just curious. She gives me a sad smile.

"Because today is the first time in the whole time I've been here that the exact time I scheduled to come down, the king throws a meeting that all guards have to come immediately, and Frank and Nico are the guards for this station. At least, they are for another few minutes."

"Really? What does the king want?" Hazel asks.

"No idea. Something security related, probably." She glances at her watch. "Oh! I have to go. Right, forgot about that. Hey, maybe I can come downstairs tomorrow with the boys. I can bring the girls with me. I'll just spin some lie about wanting to finally clean up. Queen Aphrodite will break. She's _such_ a neat freak. Oh, and Piper. The boys told me about the whole Princess-Piper-Hera-Quest. It's so weird. Everything about it. Oh! Was I supposed to go? Right."

I laugh. I notice the other girls have retreated back to their cells. I do so too, even though it upsets me. I lay on my bed a Rachel locks our cells.

"Bye! "She calls out over her shoulder as she bounds up the steps as fast as she can in our pattern. We call goodbyes to her and she laughs. We all lay silent for a few seconds, until we can no longer hear Rachel. Then Hazel shoots up from her lazy position with a start.

"What?" Calypso asks, opening her eyes as hearing Hazel's gasp. Hazel's eyes are filled with fear. We other girls have all stood up, and Annabeth is already asking her what's wrong. Hazel visibly gulps.

"Rachel left the light on."

My eyes widen and I stare at the light. There is a sharp intake of breath heard around the room. The light flickers, and for a second I hope it will go off.

"What do we do?" Thalia asks. We all look around in hope. None of us has an idea.

"Rachel locked us in. I guess she forgot, and we forgot to realize. But we'll get in so much trouble. Rachel especially. What do we do?" I ask.

"Wait! Didn't she say Nico and Frank are up there, guarding the steps? Should we call up? It's our best shot, right?" Annabeth says hopefully. I nod.

"It's probably the only chance we have. FRANK!" I yell.

"NICO! FRANK!" We all yell together. Soon enough, there's pounding down the steps with a few-second-long intervals. Nico and Frank burst into view.

"What?! What's wrong? Ooh, lights." Frank says, his attention drawn to the light. Nico rolls his eyes.

"Why did you call for us? What happened?" He seems scared, on high alert.

"Oh. Sorry to scare you." Thalia says, calm.

"I didn't say I was scared." Nico defends.

"Really? You look it." She smirks.

"Stop flirting! Why did you call us?" Frank cuts in.

"Rachel was just down here. She left that light on." Annabeth says, with a tone that says_ obviously_.

"So?" Frank asks, looking confused.

"Turn it off so we aren't beheaded!" Annabeth exclaims.

"Okay." Frank just walks over to where the cord and yanks it so it's dark once again. He and Nico take out their flashlights. They are perfectly calm where the girls are struggling to catch our breaths.

"Don't you think this is an over-reaction?" Nico asks.

"W-What if a guard came down?!" Calypso stutters.

"When do guards ever come down here?" Nico reasons.

"Oh."

Well now I feel stupid. Nice, Piper.

"Wow, was that stupid. Nice, Hazel. "Hazel scolds herself.

"I'm thinking the same thing right now." I tell her.

"Oh my gods. You girls are hilarious." Frank laughs out. He and Nico are laughing like crazy.

"Oh, get out. Don't you have to go clean something?" Thalia asks.

"Yeah, apparently your cell, but not until tomorrow." Nico shoots back.

"Fine. Stay. But you had a fair warning." Calypso warns.

"What could you do to us?" Frank asks.

"We're about to girl-talk." Hazel reveals. Frank and Nico share a look and dash up the stairs slightly laughing. We break into laughter.

"That was great!" Annabeth says, clapping and laughing. We all continue laughing for a minute or so until our breathing returns to normal and we calm down.

"So. That was interesting." I say.

"Oh yeah. And Hazel's face when-"Hazel cuts Calypso off.

"I know! I was so scared!" she smiles wider, if it's possible.

"And how we were so panicked that we forgot that guards never come down here!" Thalia exclaims.

"We were so stupid!" I say. We all calm down and sit at the very edge of the bars. We are quiet.

"So, what now?" Hazel asks.

"We girl-talk, of course!" Thalia says.

* * *

**Yayyyy! Almost kinda not-really on time this chapter! Thank you to my creepily named playlists that no one knows exist for helping me write this. What did you guys think of Rachel? Like how she was perky, forgetful, hyper, nice, AND NOT AT ALL PERCY OBSESSED?**

**I sooooooo recommend these books: Anna and the French Kiss, Lola and the Boy Next Door, and Isla and the Happily Ever After. Like seriously. Now. They are they amazingness of amazingness and go read them thank you.**

**Thanks for reading and to everyone who reviewed!**

**-Kat**


	5. Soap Fights Mean War

**Disclaimer: I swear to the gods, I'm not responsible for coming up with PJO and HOO. Seriously, I wouldn't be on fanfiction, I would be writing another five books just for Jasper, my OTP. And yes, someone can have an OTP that's not Percabeth. Seriously, I like Jasper more. Don't hate me. I tend to root for the underdog. Ron and Hermione. Will and Christina. Etc.**

**Also, to my awesome readers and reviewers: This story will have a sequel, it might even be a trilogy. I know it is currently moving a bit slow but I'm trying. I am swamped with school-work, and I promise that once about a few weeks pass this will really pick up speed. I'll get more time to write. And give me a break, people. I'm writing The Great American Novel over here.**

**That was actually true. I've halfway finished.**

**Well. I've got the title down-packed.**

"That is a _terrible_ idea." I say, laughing.

"No it's not!" Thalia defends, also laughing.

"Thals, no way in Hades am I doing that." Annabeth agrees with me.

"Annie! You're against me, too?"

"No, I'm just against faking one of our deaths so you can get upstairs to shower."

"I _smell_." Thalia says the word as if it was a dead body. She shudders as if a fly landed on the corpse. She sighs and looks up. "Piper, when you become princess, please, please, _please, _decide to give showers to the prisoners. I swear to the gods. They'll love it."

We laugh. Ever since Hera popped into my head and talked about my being a princess and going on a quest, we have decided that was all just some weird thing to trick us and the attitude is so much better in here. I mean, it's and dungeon, but now there's something in the air to make it a like… like a fungeon!

Oh my gods.

Something must have appeared on my face, most likely a look of happiness and terror, because Hazel looks at me, asking a question with her eyes.

"I just was thinking how now, we're not in a dungeon." I say, blushing. Everybody stares at me. "Well, now it's a _fun_geon."

Everybody breaks into laughter. I take a sip of my water. I still have some left. I always try to make sure I drink it until the maids come and pick up our empty cups. I only have a little left. True to our word, we've been talking for a long time.

"Wow, Piper. For a girl who's been locked up… you're pretty funny." Calypso says between breaks for breaths. I smile and shrug. Our laughs all calm to heavy breaths. It's a few minutes before our breathing is back to normal.

"Hey! We should come up with a game to pass the time!" Hazel exclaims. I shrug and look around the room to see the other girls' reactions. Everyone seems to agree.

"Alright." Annabeth says, obviously answering for the people on the receiving end of the question. We're all quiet. No one knows where to start.

"Well," Calypso suggests, "we could start with naming it." Immediately Thalia has an answer. All eyes shoot to her when she gasps and throws her finger up. Her mouth hangs open for a second until everyone is looking at her. She clears her throat. Before she can say anything, Annabeth interrupts.

"Really? Throat clearing? It's come to that?"

"Dramatic effect."

"Alright. Continue."

Thalia glares at Annabeth before clearing her throat again. "We should name it The Princesses of Olympus Club Secret Time Passing Game."

"Catchy." I say dryly.

"I know, right?"

"It's perfect, Thals." Calypso says, chuckling.

"Thanks, Cally. Hazey, Annie, Pipey, what do you guys think?" We all nod in agreement, holding in laughs rather unsuccessfully.

"Great, Thaley." Annabeth says. "Now, the name's down. What's the game?" We're all quiet until I speak up.

"So, there was this old man named Leonardo locked down here with me the first few years. He died when I was eleven. He would never tell me why he was down here. Anyway, he came up with this game to pass time. I'm sure he'd love me sharing it with you."

The girls take this in. Eventually they nod. I take that as a gesture to tell them the game.

"Well, you need a flashlight." I pause to flick on my flashlight. I also take out everything I own, all hidden under my sheets and pillow. I lay them out in front of me. "So, you take anything you have and throw it at the bars. If it goes through, you get two points. If it stays in, you get one point. When it goes out, if you can reach it and get it back-which you always can because I could reach out through the bars and tap Calypso right now- you leave it there for a few seconds and then come up with an absurd story as to how you got it, how it got there, how it got in that position, and how'll you'll get it back. It's not much of a game, but I always used to laugh."

"Sounds fun. Now are you going to pass us some stuff to throw?" Thalia asks.

"Well, probably, but part of the game is to search around in the flashlight light for a chip of wood or a pebble or a big crumb of food. Back then, Jason and the guys weren't here, so that's what we played with."

"I bet you guys I can find the biggest rock. Go!" Annabeth says, getting on her knees and starting to crawl around. She squints in the dark. Soon, the other girls have all yelled out that they have found rocks. I also find one, despite pointing the flashlight in Hazel and Calypso's direction.

"I think I won, Annie." Calypso says, holding out a rock about the size of her thumb. Thalia and Hazel have smaller rocks, and mine is only a bit bigger than those. Annabeth holds out her hand, a there is a really big rock there. I point the flashlight at it and squint.

"That's soap!" Thalia accuses.

"So be it." Annabeth says, throwing the bar of soap at the bars. Not only does her aim get it through her bars, but it also soars through Hazel's bars and hits her in the leg. Hazel gasps and picks up her soap and Annabeth's soap. She stands and throws them both. One goes into my cell and hits me, and one bounces off of Annabeth's bars and falls on the ground. I pick up my soap and toss it at Hazel. It goes in her cell. Then, I pick up the one she through at me and throw it at Thalia.

And then we're all throwing soap at each other.

We're screaming and yelling and narrowly avoiding soap. I continuously doge soap, reach through bars to get soap, and then throw soap. We're all yelling so loud we're laughing and Thalia keeps screaming things about war, and Hazel's shrieking really loud, and Annabeth's constantly making her soap shoots through the bars with her battle strategy. She's good at it. I toss another soap at Hazel and-

"This is weird." I whip my head around when a light goes on and meet eyes with Leo. We freeze. Of course, Annabeth's crouched down trying to grasp a bar of soap and Thalia's got soap in her hand and she seems to have stopped taking aim at me. I'm blocking myself from Calypso, who's on the floor and aiming at me. Well, this is awkward.

Jason, Frank, Percy, Nico, Rachel, Gwen, Drew, Reyna, Katie, Clarisse, and Juniper all appear in our tiny hallway, most of them crowded at the end by the stairs where there is an open space about six foot by six foot.

"What are you doing?" Nico asks.

"We were simply playing a round of The Princesses of Olympus Club Secret Time Passing Game. What are you doing here?" Thalia responds coolly.

"We're cleaning, remember?" Rachel says and holds up a bucket of water, and everyone else holds up either a mop, a broom, some rags, a bottle of cleaner, or another cleaning tool.

"Right." Calypso says, finally peeling herself off the ground. We regain our forms and put our soaps down. When there's a second of silence, everyone in the room except the girls behind bars bursts into laughter. Annabeth, Thalia, Calypso, Hazel, and I yell at them to stop. After a few seconds-it felt like years- they calmed down. I'm blushing madly.

"Soap fighting?" Gwen asks, grinning. I blush harder.

"Let's just clean." Hazel decides. We do quick introductions before Jason steps forward and unlocks us all. He smiles at me when he passes by. I think my heart melts a bit as I smile back. Why?

I step out of my cell and hug Rachel, Gwen, Clarisse, Juniper, Katie and Drew. Then Reyna. I like Reyna- I really do- so I'm not sure why I don't like hugging her. I mean, sure, she's gushed about Jason a few times but it's not like _I _like him.

Do I?

I step back, letting go of Reyna and hug the boys. Jason is last. I hug him tighter and the longest. I give him a warm smile when I step back. I hear a throat clear just as I'm looking into his warm, blue, eyes. I look away and take a step towards Calypso.

"Let's clean!" Juniper announces. We spilt into pairs of twos and one group of three. I'm stuck with Thalia and Percy. That's good, I love both of them. At least it's not Nico and Thalia. _Think _of the awkward tension. The other groups are Leo and Annabeth, Nico and Frank, Jason and Gwen, Reyna and Rachel, Drew and Clarisse, Hazel and Calypso, and Juniper and Katie. I can't help but sigh with relief that Jason is with Gwen instead of Rachel. Nice Gwen, who met this butcher's son named Dakota in the city last month.

My group is in charge of cleaning Annabeth's cell. We're dusting it and brushing away pebbles with the broom. I'm in charge of cleaning the cell floor with the mop. The room is filled with chatter. I mostly stay to my own thoughts. I look around the room as I work, watching everyone laugh and talk to each other. I have a smile on my face the whole time. This really is the fungeon.

I tune into Thalia and Percy's conversation.

"Please, it's so obvious you like her." Thalia says. I immediately know what this conversation is about. I join.

"Yes, it is." I agree. Percy's been glancing at Annabeth ever since we were down here. He's lovesick.

"Really that bad?" Percy asks. I see Thalia nod out of the corner of my eye. Percy sighs.

I tune out again, returning to my thoughts.

The boys eventually go upstairs to quickly eat and bring down food for us girls. All twelve of us are left down here. Time for girl talk again. We're all leaning against the bars, facing each other by having six of us on each side.

"So, Gwen. I overheard you say something to Reyna about a boy named Dakota. Care to spill some details?" Thalia inquires.

"Oh, okay. Well, I met him while on an errand for the queen. I was picking up her favorite tea, and there he was, looking at different kinds of punch. I dropped things and he helped me pick them up and then we talked and he asked me for a stroll. So we did, and he talked, and he was really nice. I got back here a bit late but Queen Aphrodite didn't mind. She just made me tell her all the details. We've met up about five times since then, and he's asked me to be his girlfriend. It's great." She says this with a smile the whole time. I have to smile. There's just something about Gwen that makes you want to smile.

The boys come down with six trays, Leo balancing two, and then go back up to get the last six, Leo again balancing two. It doesn't work out that well, though, because Katie's food almost landed on her head. We have peaches again, and bread and water. I don't know how Leo managed to hold two trays.

We simply talk for quite a long time, and then the boys have to cook and set up dinner and the girls have to help Queen Aphrodite get ready and straighten her things up. We say our goodbyes and I smile sadly as Jason locks us back into our cells. Jason matches the smile and finishes locking my cell. He does the other girls', too. Everybody says goodbye and then they leave, taking our empty trays with them.

Without saying anything, the girls and I go to bed. I drift off to sleep peacefully, smelling not the dank air but them refreshing smell of cleaner. I fall asleep calmly, with a smile on my face.

I am awoken by screaming.

**I really liked that one. Probably my favorite so far. Thanks for so many people reviewing. New reviews make my day. You guys are the best.**

**Read, Review, and Recycle.**

**I'm pretty sure that's not it.**

**You should recycle anyway.**

**- Kat**


	6. That Escalated Quickly

**Disclaimer: Due to some weird things called "laws", I can't tell you this story belongs to me. I mean, I could but I'd get in trouble. No thank you.**

**I'm pretty sure this is the chapter where the story becomes all awesome and fast and actually good.**

**Enjoy! (Or don't, but if you don't, please be nice about it.)**

I am awoken by screaming.

I dart out of bed and to my feet. I hear the sound of feet hitting the ground and know the others have done the same. I don't move. I can't.

The screams go on, blood-curdling shrieks that echo off the walls. It's a girl. I clench my hands over my ears to dull the noise. My breathing slows, but my heart beats faster.

The screams stops abruptly, but the echoes of it do not.

And then: pounding.

Pounding footsteps down the stairs, pounding in my head. The footsteps aren't stopping at all, but I'm too afraid to move and hide in a corner or on my bed. The steps come nearer and two figures burst into the room.

"Piper! It's Jason." I let out a sigh of relief.

"Jason!" I whisper, afraid to speak so loud. "Why are you here? Who's with you? What's going on?" My questions come out harsh, but they are a relief.

"It's Leo. We'll explain later. We need to get you out."

"Out of where?" I hear Annabeth ask.

"Out of the castle. All of you. The others are standing guard at the steps, but we don't have long." The room is suddenly illuminated, and Jason and Leo come into view. Leo pulls out the keys with a look of determination on his face. He quickly unlocks the cells, wasting no time. I step out and close the door behind me. Jason looks up the stairs.

"This way. Obviously." He begins to climb the steps, and it is the first time in eight years to ever leave that room. It feels good. I thank the gods that I always walked around to keep my legs strong. We climb the steps, and it seems to take forever. When we get to the top, I start hearing more screams.

Not like someone is being tortured. More like battle cries. There are also _thumps _and _bumps _and _crashes_. I see the outline of a figure at the top of the stairway. It looks like Percy. He has blood running down his cheek and he is hunched over, breathing hard. Jason seems to pick up pace when he sees him.

"Percy! What happened?" We reach the top and move out of the way do the others could come up. We all fan out, taking up the space of the dark hallway.

"Nevermind that. We need to go. Now." Percy says, walking down the hallway and motioning for us to follow. We do. We walk until we reach a large room with many hallways leading out of it. And windows. I look out one, hoping for sunlight but I'm disappointed. It's night.

I hear footsteps and turn my head to see Nico and Frank running towards us. They're each carrying large bags. They approach and slow to a stop.

"Let's go!" Frank and Nico each hand one of their bags to one of the other boys, leaving Percy empty-handed. He looks grateful, seeing as he only now regained his form. Frank and Leo run ahead, and the rest of us follow. We run down the large room and into a hallway. Even though I'm preoccupied with running, I can't help but notice how pretty things are here.

The hallways are covered with white paint and the windows have red curtains. The floors are white marble tile and there are statues of things everywhere. The castle's theme seems to be red, white, and gold. The ceiling are high and the doors are carved intricately. And I grew up here. And I can't even remember.

We turn into another room and I see where the screams are coming from.

There are castle guards fighting men in purple armor. The castle guards seem to be losing. Dead bodies lay on the floors. I am mesmerized by the battle. Nobody seems to notice as we race out a door. It must be the castle's front door. I see more people fighting on the grass fields. We run faster than before. We run to the gate, and Nico opens it. We run out.

And just like that, we've escaped.

We've been walking for hours.

Jason says he'll explain soon enough, but first we need to get to the safe place.

I can no longer hear screams.

About an hour ago, we entered a forest.

Percy says we're almost there.

Nobody speaks.

We keep walking.

We emerge from the forest and into a large field. In the distance, I see a small house. That must be the safe house. Percy is leading the way, a new look on his face. He looks relieved. I try not to focus on the soreness of my feet and the weakness of my legs. I listen to the sounds of my breath. I've walked a long time.

We reach the house and Percy sprints to the front door, looking happy. I wonder why nobody else is. None of us have left the castle in years, except the girls who just arrived a few days ago. There is feeling of somberness in the air around us, and I am too tired to question it.

Percy knocks on the door. We are all silent. I'm holding my breath, ready for someone to come out with a sword and kill us. The door opens. I brace myself, but my eyes are still open.

"Percy!" A woman comes out and tackle Percy in a hug. He hugs back. I can't see, but, it looks like Percy's crying. I think the woman is, too. "Paul! It's Percy!" The woman yells, still clinging to Percy. A man comes out and hugs them both. I stand awkwardly next to Annabeth and Thalia, waiting for them to acknowledge us.

Then it hits me. These people must be Percy's family. He hasn't seen them in years. I know Nico, Jason, Frank, and Leo's parents are dead, but I forgot Percy's were alive. They break away, and Percy's parents are smiling wide. Percy stands up straight, and with a smile on his face, looks at us.

"Mom, Paul, these are my friends. We escaped the castle. That's Nico, Jason, Frank, and Leo. Those girls are the prisoners we helped escape. They are Princesses Piper, Thalia, Calypso, Hazel, and Annabeth. Long story. Anyway, we came here. We brought food." He motions to the bags the boys are carrying.

"Oh, Percy. I'm so glad you're here. You can borrow clothes, food, whatever. As long as you need. Anything else?" Percy's mom asks. What was her name? I think he told me it was Sally.

"Well," Percy looks pointedly at me, "Some of us haven't bathed in over eight years. Do you think you could spare us some soap and let us take baths?"

"Of course! Now, all of you in. I want the details. You can rest until everyone is bathed. Eat some food. It'll be morning soon, and I'll have to run out for some things, so hurry up." Sally ushers us inside where I immediately feel safe. It is a small place, with a fireplace, a couch, a rug, a table, and a rocking chair all in one room. It looks cozy. The fireplace is warm. There is a kitchen off to the right and a bedroom across from the couch. There is a smaller bedroom with two bed next to that and a bathroom at the end of the room.

Sally gives the girls soap and towels and some of her clothes, and we stand in line in front of the bathroom. I decide to go last so no one is rushing in after me. I can have time to remove eight years' worth of dirt and grime. Percy announces he'll be catching up with his parents, but nothing important so we can all talk later.

Thalia goes in to the bathroom first. She takes only five minutes. Then Hazel, Annabeth, and Calypso all take a few minutes longer. They have longer hair, so it probably takes them longer. Finally it's my turn. I step into the bathroom and walk over to the tub. I turn it on. I take off my clothes and throw them on the ground. I stop the faucet and climb into the tub, relaxing in the warm water.

I already feel cleaner. I take the bar of soap Sally gave me and set to work on my skin. I can almost see the dirt coming off me. I scrub my skin thoroughly. After, I dunk my hair in the water to get it wet, and then wash it with the soap. Eventually, I drain the tub, feeling better than I have in eight years. I dry myself with the towel. I put on the clothes Sally gave me, and they fit well. Every year I got a new set of brown clothing from the castle. I was growing out of my clothes by getting taller. They never fed me enough to make my weight change.

I run my fingers through my hair and pick up my dirty clothes. I exit the bathroom and put my clothes in the pile that other girls put theirs in. The boys didn't bathe, probably because they did so recently at the castle. They did, however, change into some of Paul's clothes.

I sat down next to Hazel on the floor. The boys were also on the floor, playing cards. I'm good at card games. Jason teaches me them to pass the time. He has said he would leave me the cards but I wouldn't be able to play them by myself. I wish he had so I wouldn't have been in that embarrassing soap incident.

Sally walks out of the kitchen with some plates of fruit. She gives me way more then I get at the castle. She also gives me cheese and apple-sauce. It tastes like the best thing I've ever eaten. She gives some to all of us before sitting down next to Paul on the couch.

"Alright," Sally says. "Spill."

Percy tells the basic story of how I was put down there when I was eight, and then they came and then the princesses came and then they found out I was a princess. He tells how Hera possessed me and what she said. Then, Jason took over the story.

"I had just a month before the girls came gone out of the castle on an errand for the head guard. I went to the shop to get his sword sharpened, and there I met a man. He recognized my clothes and pulled me aside. Said he couldn't tell me his name. He said that he knew I wanted to escape, that I _had _to escape. With the princess, who we didn't know was Piper. Then, he said he worked with a group of rebels they called The Romans, and that they were breaking into the castle tonight so I could escape with the princesses. He said it plural that time. He gave me the date and told me not to tell anyone until it was just about to happen. The princesses need me to help them fulfill their destiny. Then, he walked off."

Jason lets that sink in. This is so much new information. The Romans. Destiny. How did the man even know she existed? Hera had said something about a prophecy, but…

"So then, tonight, an hour before the attack, I told the guys, and then they found some food to bring, and then The Romans attacked, and we escaped. We also told some of our friends that were maids to sneak into the cells were the girls her kept, so they're safe and get food and nobody knows the girls are missing. The girls would just be claimed dead when no one can find them after the attack. "

That's good. I want the girls to be safe. Sally and Paul are still processing this information. After a few minutes of silence, Sally speaks up.

"I'm glad you're all okay. You should get some rest. We can talk about all this in the morning. Just sleep." Sally gives us blankets and pillows that seem to appear out of nowhere. We all sleep on the floor except Sally and Paul. They retreat to their bedroom. None of us want to take the couch or one of the beds and leave the others on the floor, so we stay where we are. The girls are on one side, the guys on another. I'm in-between Hazel and Leo, Leo a foot or so away from me.

"Goodnight." Annabeth says.

"Goodnight." We all chorus.

"That was crazy." Nico says. We all agree.

"Hey, guys?" Calypso says.

"Yeah?" The rest of the room says in unison, matching her soft tones.

"Right, now, with you guys, our situation isn't so bad." She says, and I can hear the smile on her face through her words. I smile. I can tell the whole room is.

"Goodnight." I say.

"Goodnight." Everyone else says.

I lay awake for a while, worried if I sleep I will again wake to screams of pain. I can tell everyone else is awake by the sounds of their uneven breathing. Eventually, my eyes drift closed and I think of how just a few hours ago I was locked away in a castle, and now I'm on the run in a small cottage with my friends.

That escalated quickly.

**There you go! Sooner than I expected, more to come by Friday. Hopefully. I'm getting there. This I think is when the story's going to get better. I can feel it.**

**-Kat**


	7. AUTHOR'S NOTE PLEASE READ

OHHH MYYYY GODDDDDDDDD I AM SOOOOO SORRY MY LAPTOP CRASHED AND I DIDN'T HAVE IT FOR LIKE A BAJILLION YEARS AND I LOST ALL MY FILES AND THE CHAPTER AND I ONLY GOT IT BACK TODAY AFTER LIKE THREE WEEKS THERE WILL BE A CHAPTER UP SOON I PROMISE A LOT MORE WORDS AND A LOT MORE CHAPTER AND THIS IS A REALLY LONG SENTENCE! STAY TUNED!

Also: WARNING HOLY MOTHERFRUCKING SPOILERSSSS FOR THE BLOOD OF OLYMPUS OKAY GOOD DON'T READ IF YOU HAVEN'T READ IT WHY WOULD YOU BE READING THIS WHEN YOU COULD READ BLOOD OF OLYMPUS I SUCK AT WRITING AND THIS IN ALL CAP WOW.

First and foremost: Solangelo is my new OTP solangelo today, solangelo tomorrow, solangelo forever haha did you get it? And now I must continue a story of Thalico. Sigh. I'm going to put up a poll on my page if I should keep the Thalico or change to Solangelo like I'm all for solangelo but... you can decide.

Reynico friendship was amazinnng like BROTP GUYS BROTP but Pipabeth friendship like PIPES MY FAVE CHARACTER GETTING SOME FRIENDS YAYYYY and Frazel love aww and HOLY CALEO I NEED SOME MORE OF THAT CALEO.

Thanks for hanging in there! Stay tuned!


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